Hi all,

I’m back with yet another pesky little malicious program, which none of the antiviruses seem to pick up. Some antivirus programs detect this virus as a version of the infamous Autoit worm. But this one seems like a very primitive attempt at a virus - and I’m still not sure what negative things it does, other than making your computer slow.

Symptoms

• Cannot directly double click and enter any drive (especially USB drives)
• Computer slows down
• A unknown "wscript.exe" or "monit.exe" or "scvhost.exe" in your Task Manager processes
• A hidden MSwin32.dll.vbs and autorun.inf files in every drive
• "We want Avnish sir back" in the Internet Explorer title space

If you have experienced any of the above problems, you have this little jerk on board your system.

What does it do?

• Makes it impossible to access the drives directly. i.e. You cannot enter the drives by double clicking on its icon in My Computer. If it does open, it opens in a new window.
• Makes your system slow.

Files involved

1. MSwin32.dll.vbs and autorun.inf in every drive
2. wscript.exe and monit.exe (and sometimes, scvhost.exe) in C:\Windows
3. 4 registry keys

Removal

The removal of this virus is simple. However, please note that this virus most often appears in tandem with another virus which creates .exe files inside a folder, with the same name as the folder. To remove that virus, check out the And Back Up blog, after you’re done with this removal. Fire up your Task Manager (Alt+Ctrl+Del) and end the processes wscript.exe and monit.exe

1. Open Folder Options (My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View) and -
   > Enable Show hidden files and folders
   > Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
   > Uncheck  Hide protected operating system files
   Click OK.
2. Go to each drive (C, D, E etc.) and delete(Shift+Delete and OK) the hidden files MSwin32.dll.vbs and autorun.inf. DO NOT insert your USB drive now. Finish the entire Removal procedure, do the Immunisation(given below) and THEN do this step (i.e. Step 3) for your USB drive(also Digicam, Mobile Phones, iPods, Music Players etc.).
3. Open Registry Editor (Start>Run>regedit>OK) and delete the following keys -
   ||  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
   CurrentVersion\Run\wscript

   ||  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
   CurrentVersion\Run\monit

   Then, browse to the key
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
   and double click on the key Window Title. Change the value of that key to "Microsoft Internet Explorer" (without the quotes :P).

Yup, thats it

Immunisation

Since this is a stupid little virus, its pretty easy to immunise yourself from it. And its pretty simple. Make a blank text file named autorun and change its file extension to .inf . (if you can’t see the file extension, repeat Step 2 given above). Now right click the autorun.inf file and check the option which says Read Only, and click OK.

You might also download and run the Symantec NoScript plugin - it disables all VBscripts on your system - making you less susceptible to viruses.

I still haven’t found out what great damage this virus does. Hopefully, the antiviruses will start picking up this creeper! Oh by the way, thanks to And Back Up blog for helping me out with removing the virus from my system - but many of his instructions do not work / are not foolproof / are not necessary. His removal program also does not work :(. And he provided the Symantec NoScript tip

Technorati Tags: MSwin32.dll.vbs, autorun.inf, autoit, virus removal, sohanad, noscript, vbscript, virus, removal, security, we want avnish sir back, internet explorer

getting stuck in traffic…

i want live traffic
reports!

im new to the city…

i want
directions!

i want auto fares, bus routes, and car
pool information as well!
Yes, and now its possible.

If you don’t know about it already, its high time you knew Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re from Bangalore, Hyderabad or Chennai, you can get directions, you can get live traffic reports, and you can get them as SMSes on your mobile!

Bangalore Transport Information System, or BTIS, gives you live traffic reports - where’s busy, and where’s not; whether its offpeak time, or peak time; whether there is a road block, or not. It can also provide directions, along with bus routes. It can also help you to carpool. And best of all, all this can be accessed by SMSing! Apart from these, the website also provides information on the city traffic, safety regulations, rules and so on.

A project by Mapunity and Airtel, the online Transport Information System concept began with their pilot project in Hyderabad. Immediately, BTIS was launched, and now Chennai is in the beta stages.

When Live Traffic is clicked, you get a map wherein the roads are marked with green, orange, or red buttons. Green means that the traffic is ok. Orange means that the traffic is moderately high, and Red means that the traffic is very high, and most probably blocked.

If you want traffic directions, go to Directions, and enter the place from where you want to travel, and you destination. Then click Go and you’re in business. The map shows a line, which is the path you must take. It also displays the distance, average auto fare, and bus routes. You can zoom in on areas. You can get the directions by SMS as well.

Best of all, if you have GPRS enabled on your mobile, you can get all features of BTIS on your mobile. Like a semi GPS!

Currently, Mapunity has these information systems for Bangalore (BTIS), Hyderabad (HTIS), and Chennai (CTIS). Well,
next time you’re in doubt about directions, or if you want a quick check on traffic before you go, or if you want to research side streets to use, you know where to go

Technorati Tags: BTIS, HTIS, CTIS, bangalore, hyderabad, chennai, traffic, bangalore traffic, traffic problems, directions, car pool, auto fare, bangalore traffic information system, traffic information system

MPlayer, as I had mentioned in my previous post on my Top 3 Audio/Video players, is a media player for Linux, which supports almost all kinds of audio and video formats. It can even play semi-corrupted, and semi-downloaded files. And it rates # 1, as my most favourite and preferred video player.

It is, by creation, a player for Linux, coded by Astral and team. It is essentially a command line operated player, but later on GUIs were introduced for it. Of late, it has GUIs even in Windows, but these GUIs are not very stable, and often destroy the stable credibility of MPlayer. The MPlayer is now available for all operating systems - Linux, Unix based OSes, Windows, and Mac OS X.

How to install MPlayer -

For Linux, go to http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html . They have a very good explanation on how to install MPlayer on Linux. Of late, MPlayer comes as the default AV(audio/video) player in many Linux distros.

For Mac OS X, go to http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/ . They’ve developed a very good GUI for MPlayer on Mac. Its as simple as download, install, and drag and drop to play.

For Windows, the procedure is a bit more tedious, but worth the effort.

1. Go to http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html and download the MPlayer 1.0rc2 Windows.
2. After downloading, unzip the package to somewhere easy to remember. For example, unzip it to C:\Program Files\MPlayer so that its easy to locate at a future date.
3. For Windows XP and 2000, go to Step 4. For Windows 98 and previous, go to step 5.
4. Next, go to your Documents and Settings folder. By default, it will be in the root directory, C:\, but could differ if you’ve changed the location or have installed Windows in a different directory. In Documents and Settings, chose the folder which corresponds to your Windows username. i.e. If your Windows username is Geekboy. open the folder Geekboy in the Documents and Settings folder. Inside that folder, there will be a hidden folder called SendTo. If you can see it, open it. If you can’t, either enable the View Hidden Folders (Tools > Folder Options > View > Show Hidden Files and Folders > OK) or append "SendTo" (without the quotes) in the address bar. Go to step 6.
5. (for Windows 98 and previous versions) Go to your Windows folder (by default, it should be C:\Windows\). There will be a hidden folder named "SendTo". Open it. (if you can’t see it, either append SendTo to the address bar, or enable viewing of hidden files by going to Folder Options).
6. Create a shortcut (Right Click > New > Shortcut) and point the shortcut to a file named mplayer.exe in our MPlayer folder (in our example, C:\Program Files\MPlayer\mplayer.exe). You’re all set to go!
7. Now, to play a file using MPlayer, right click on the file, and scroll over Send To  and click Mplayer. Enjoy!

To get an idea of the controls in Windows, go to Interactive Control in the MPlayer Manual.

But here are a few basic controls -

• f - to toggle fullscreen
• arrow keys - to fast forward/rewind
• Page Up and Page Down - to fast forward/rewind by 10 minutes
• p - Pause/Play
• q or Esc - to quit
• / and * OR 9 and 0 - increase and decrease volume
• m - to mute sound
• o - to toggle timer

Those are the basic controls. There are more advanced controls for everything from increase/decrease movie speed to adjusting hue/brightness/colour etc. Check out Interactive Control for more information.

Supported Media Formats

• Physical media: CDs, DVDs, Video CDs* Container formats: 3GP, AVI, ASF, FLV, Matroska, MOV (QuickTime), MP4, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia
• Video formats: Cinepak, DV, H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, RealVideo, Sorenson, Theora, WMV
• Audio formats: AAC, AC3, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, Intel Music Coder, Monkey’s Audio, MP3, RealAudio, Shorten, Speex, Vorbis, WMA
• Subtitle formats: AQTitle, ASS/SSA, CC, JACOsub, MicroDVD, MPsub, OGM, PJS, RT, Sami, SRT, SubViewer, VOBsub, VPlayer

I hope that this post was useful and informative. Enjoy the MPlayer world!

Technorati Tags: MPlayer, media player for linux, linux media player, MPlayer windows, Windows media, play all formats, movie player, best media player

Hello all,

I’ve often been asked which was my favourite AV player. Five years ago, I used to respond with "Winamp" or "Power DVD". But now, I should say, my opinions have changed. And thats why I laugh when people say that their favourite player is Real Player, or QuickTime. Right now, after having used most of the available audio/video playing software, I have formed a few of my favourites. And I thought that I would share them with you…

# 1 - Mplayer

Mplayer - an audio/video player for Linux, comes in as my all time favourite AV player. It can play as many video or audio clips as you want simultaneously. It has never crashed for me. It can play semi downloaded files, files with the wrong extension, and once, it has even played a zipped file! Any file with an audio or video track can be played with Mplayer. On Windows, you need to do a manual install, with a Send To shortcut to make it work. It does not have a GUI, but its amazingly powerful. Visit the Mplayer website for more information. Information on how to install and use Mplayer in your Windows system coming up in my next post.

# 2 - VLC Player

Almost as powerful as Mplayer, with a neat GUI, ladies and gentlemen, in second position comes VLC Player. Cross platform support and freeware - 2 words which make VLC magical! It can, like Mplayer, play isolated DVD files, all sorts of music and video files. But sometimes, especially in case of a defective DVD video file, your system hangs. If you like power, and no fancy stuff, but still a GUI, go in for VLC Player.

# 3 - Windows Media Player 11

Stylish and hot, WMP 11 creates a whole new AV experience for Windows users. Free to install for "genuine" Windows users, this awesome looking player is a complete package for any home user. Vista looks, audio/video tweaking, library feature, sync with music players, stable performance etc. are the main features of WMP 11. It comes in as # 3, even above iTunes, because of its fast and stable performance, cool looks, and easy to use sync feature. You can download WMP 11 from the Microsoft website.

Yes, thats my top 3. I hope that you’ve found this post useful. And no, Real Player, QuickTime etc. are not among my favourites. In fact they feature at the end of my favour list… Just below my top 3, comes DivX, iTunes, Powe DVD etc.

Technorati Tags: top 3, audio video players, audio players, video players, audio software, video software, av software, top 3 audio video players

Hello,

Many of us would have wanted to shift from Blogger to Wordpress. But you must be put off by the fact that you would have to start all over again - visitors, feeds, Google PR, advertisers and so on… I’ve seen very many posts on the technical details on how to make the shift. A week back, my friend Amit from Digital Inspiration posted a blog on how to make the shift from Blogger to Wordpress without lasting damage in terms of visitors, RSS readers, and so on.

I found it quite useful, but since I didn’t have any more Blogger blogs (atleast none with a huge visitor count and stats) I couldn’t test it… It might turn out to be very useful for you. I reccomend this article as a MUST READ for anyone planning to shift from Blogger to Wordpress.

Check out Digital Inspiration.

Cheers

Technorati Tags: blogger to wordpress, shifting, blogs